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THE
march of the peso continues with another P1.50 per liter
added to the pump prices of gasoline, kerosene and
diesel over the weekend on the heels of oil futures that
broke the $135 mark, and P1 per kilo added for liquified
petroleum gas (LPG).
With oil
companies making money hand- over-fist last year and
this year, local observers have the suspicion that
so-called uncollected underrecoveries had been inflated
in the local market, although these same observers
offered no proof.
But
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes reiterated Friday that
increases due to underrecoveries must be based on costs
incurred and not on projected or forecast international
price.
Reyes
said announcements of total under-recovery need
clearance or consultation with the Department of Energy
(DOE) so as not to cause unnecessary panic, and told the
oil companies announcements of incremental increases to
recover costs are not being restrained by the
government.
So,
consumers are left with the unpalatable choice of the
crowded bus in heavy traffic or the car; cooking with
wood—which is quite dangerous in the city—or LPG; and
truckers with diesel or LPG, with the attendant first
investment of about P35,000 for engine conversion.
The
increases were implemented over the weekend, the 13th
time of such increases this year, as Chevron Philippines
Inc. (Caltex), Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum
Corp. and Total (Philippines) Corp. hiked their prices.
Petron,
Shell and Total LPG now cost an additional P11 per
11-kilo tank, said to be lower than the increase by
other LPG firms.
According to the Department of Energy, Philippine oil
benchmark Dubai crude averaged $119.46 barrel in May
from $103.41 per barrel in April.
The DOE
also noted that Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS)-based
gasoline averaged $130.92 per barrel in May from $118.08
per barrel in April; while MOPS-based diesel was $161.23
per barrel in May from $141.98 per barrel in April.
The DOE
said LPG’s price had also increased to $907.50 per
metric ton this month from $855.50 per metric ton in May
and $812 per metric ton in April.
As of
June 2, the DOE reported the per-liter price of unleaded
gasoline ranges from P51.83 to P54.07 per liter, diesel
from P44.30 to P46.97 per liter, kerosene from P48.65 to
P52.30 per liter and LPG from P593 to P639 per 11-kilo
tank.
Peter
Lee U, dean of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P)
School of Economics, said earlier the price adjustments
are “reasonable.”
In
December last year, the DOE commissioned the UA&P and
SGV to determine whether oil-price adjustments from
December 2006 to November 2007 were reasonable. The two
entities did the study for free.
“Oil-price increases have been reasonable. They were not
out of line and are consistent with what they are saying
that they have underrecoveries,” said Lee U.
“The
best protection the government can offer to consumers is
to have the petroleum industry be more open to new
players to spur competition. The country needs a
credible competition policy with an enforcement agency,”
added Lee U. |
